Whatever it is, we have a problem. We should have seen it coming when Tom walked the game’s first hitter on four pitches, but (I at least) kind of forgot about the lack of control when Gorzo put up 4 zeroes in a row. He had a no-hitter and a 1-0 lead heading into the 5th inning. Though he was clearly missing some command, things didn’t seem to be going too badly.

The 5th was ugly.

Tom walked the bases loaded (one of those being to the pitcher–on 4 pitches), then gave up his first hit of the game-a 2 RBI single from strange-looking Rule 5 pick Brian Barton. Pujols knocked home another with a ground ball single. Quickly Gorzo’s game had gone down the drain. He escaped the inning but would not return to the mound.

His total line didn’t seem too terrible–3 runs in 5 innings…..until you get TO THE 7 WALKS PART!

That’s unacceptable. As WHYGAVS (link above) points out: “when a guy that walked 68 batters in over 200 innings last year has 22 walks in 22 and 1/3 this year, there’s something wrong.”

Phil Dumatrait would give up two more, but that didn’t seem to matter.

The Pirates got their early run from a double by Adam LaRoche (yes, it’s true) who had his first two-hit game since the opener.

The Pirates made a little noise in the 9th, but down 6-1, the mountain was too high, and Isringhausen came in to ensure no blowups for St. Louis. The Bucs just got one run.

Nate McLouth is still hitless ever since his streak ended (Tuesday).

St. Louis salvages a split of the series. The Bucs are 2-2 on the homestand. They are 6 back in the Central, in 5th place.